Chief John Drake, Midtown Hills Precinct Commander Dayton Wheeler, Detective Sergeant Jeff Mathes, Officer Rex Engelbert, and Detective Michael Collazo speak about the March 27 response to The Covenant School.
I want to thank that reporter that asked “ Are you guys doing ok?” In all other briefs I’ve watched I’ve never heard a reporter ask that. I wish I knew his name. That brought tears to my eyes. That community is just amazing. Praying for all of the first responders 🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️
Im a born and raised Nashvillian. Ive never been more proud of my citys police department and first responders and just Nashville as a community than i have been after this extreme tragedy. My heart breaks for everyone who was actually involved with all of this. 😢😢😢❤
Jason Lamb. News Channel 5 has done an amazing job in their coverage. Very respectful. They tried not to show any children or parents faces as they covered the reunification center. One of their own was live on air handling the coverage like a pro and she had a personal connection to the school. Her Mother in Law is an employee who just stepped out for a break.
100% I agree. In instances like this, most of the thought, all of the time goes towards the victims, and their families, but not necessarily the first responders, who had to see what they had to see and deal with what they had to deal with. I was also thankful that that question was asked. It needs to be asked more. We need to ask people if they’re OK.
Detective Collazo and Officer Rex are born leaders. You can’t teach that kind of bravery. And the fact they had never met and yet worked with such precision is testament to their training. Praying all of these officers take comfort in the fact they saved many lives.
Don’t forget Sgt. Mathes. He was right there with officer Engelbert clearing rooms and directing other officers. He acted just as bravely as Collazo and Engelbert and deserves to have his name known like there are.
Those cops are full of shit by taking credit for their participation in a scheduled police training drill that went live in the media. You need to understand something here. Clearly, the willful-ignorance of the general public needs no introduction as they have no clue that what we REALLY saw was a confirmed police training exercise that went live in the media. We've only been subjected to this scripted gun control propaganda for the past 16 years ever since Obama was selected. In fact, ALL these so-called 'mass sh00tings' have been nothing but DHS-required drills,....and they'll pull the same stunt again at a school, a public event, a bar, a synagogue, a church,......sounds very familiar to all the staged crap we've seen before. These events have never produced a single death in any of them. Even the 20 Connecticut school kids are still very much alive and well,........................CONFIRMED.
As a 32 year resident of Davidson County I could not be more proud of the people that protect my community. THIS is why we support our LEO, train our LEO and properly fund our law enforcement organizations. Thank-you to all who volunteer to protect our communities.
You need to understand something here. Clearly, the willful-ignorance of the general public needs no introduction as they have no clue that what we REALLY saw was a confirmed police training exercise that went live in the media. We've only been subjected to this scripted gun control propaganda for the past 16 years ever since Obama was selected. In fact, ALL these so-called 'mass sh00tings' have been nothing but DHS-required drills,....and they'll pull the same stunt again at a school, a public event, a bar, a synagogue, a church,......sounds very familiar to all the staged crap we've seen before. These events have never produced a single death in any of them. Even the 20 Connecticut school kids are still very much alive and well,......CONFIRMED.
Training training training. Second - strong leadership. Thank you for your service- I could see the pain on officer Rex ‘s face that he didn’t get there in time to save those 6 who perished. He saved hundreds that day. God bless him and the other brave officers.
And, he’d never worked with these particular officers before. You’d never know that by the way he had oil control and handled the situation so quickly. It was seamless
We do have such an amazing home and community here. No state or city is perfect. But in times like this, I’m so grateful to have been born and raised here.
You can see in these officers eyes that they are replaying this horrific event as they describe it. I am so impressed with Nashville and the full spectrum of support that they provide for their first responders and support staff.
I just watched this for the second time and saw the exact same thing. Some parts really worried me for them, but I guess that’s normal. May we all pray for their peace.
So crazy to now know these guys had never even worked together & yet did such an amazing job. Great job guys! Please take care of YOU & processing this trauma ❤️
Chief Drake is so proud of his whole city team, and told them so. He has a great group of LEOs. Awesome leadership all the way, sir!! Y'all first responders are a formidable example of how emergency forces should work together. God bless you all.
Please please consider putting an ARMED police officer at the door of every public and private school during the hours of operation. It is a true deterrent. We need to be proactive in protecting students and staff, that is just how it is.
These police officers are EXACTLY the example of what to do when confronting a school shooter. They didn't hesitate and many lives were saved because of their quick action. They were clearing each room UNTIL they heard the gunshots. They quickly found the shooter and took her out. God Bless ALL involved.
Sgt. Mathis, Officer Rex and Detective Collazo are all born leaders, they took point and guided the officers and detectives to take this shooter down. The respect for these men is overwhelming! Heroes just doesn’t justify the gravity of their bravery not knowing what they were facing. God bless them and the entire Police force!
I’m watching this for the second time and remembering seeing them through their body cam, and it’s such a stark contrast. I feel like for days that we have been watching a super hero movie, and now we are seeing them in real life. We all saw them running towards danger, and here at the podium they seem shy and humble. These ‘super heroes’ are human too. 🤯 Along with the rest of the world, I am praying for all involved and especially for their mental health. ❤ May God continue to protect you, body and soul. 🙏🏻
Rex and Michael rule for this. And Jeff you were there as well to make sure this shooter was stopped also, so we're all so damn proud of you guys. The bravery is incredible. Now, you have set the example and demonstration for future officers to know EXACTLY what to do in the future. Thank you.
These are intelligent, classy, concise, professional and compassionate officers. Bravo. I pray that somehow you will find some comfort on the fact that you have saved more lives. Like Officer Rex had said “ I have my training, I know my role”…. Truly dedicated officers. I hope other officers all the united states would do more and more training with concrete plans at the same time collaborate with schools and offices how to deal when active shooter is inside the premises. These men needs a raise.
Every supporting player in this incident absolutely set an example for the nation. My condolences to the families who no longer get to hug their children.
Detective Collazo and Officer Engelbert, you are such brave souls..no hesitation, the guidance and direction of how Det.Collazo lead his team, that body cam video was just amazing, too good of how one should act like it's from a movie when in reality they all came there not knowing what to expect, where exactly to go..thank you for saving more lives, and for being an inspiration to a lot more officers..
Thank you to the officers of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department for your brave actions to save as many lives as possible. Your bravery is phenomenal
Thank you officers for your bravery, your professionalism in words and deeds, and your continual training and faith in God that helped you stop that evil on March 27th.
Words cannot express the sincerity and professionalism displayed. I wish I could give Officer Rex a big hug and all those still in pain. And I'm really glad to see the result of good training. I hope more training is made available to them all. Police officers have to deal with split-second life-or-death situations, and when something bad is happening, we expect them to come and perform well. Continued prayers for them and all the families, staff, and students involved. 🙏
I didn’t think I would be even more impressed after watching this, but I am. I had no idea these brave men didn’t know each other prior to that life altering moment. They charged in like a team, like soldiers; brothers. As police, I’m sure they face shootings all the time, as well as other horrific encounters. But I have a feeling this will be something that bonds them together for years to come. I hope their minds and their hearts are healing as I can only imagine what they had to see in that building. And as outraged as we all are by an adult murdering children, I’m sure it still takes a toll on them having to kill that person in order to rescue everyone else. So I wish them all the very best as they move forward in life and continue their careers. Stay safe, and thank you, gentlemen.
Brave heroes. Guardian angels. Thank you for your hard work and for eliminating the demonic shooter. God bless these incredible heroes, the victims and their families, the school, and community.
Very Impressive work (& Heart) from all of you guys. I'm based in the Phillippines and I followed this story from the day it was reported. I hope that this training can be done all over the world. Thank you and stay grounded.
My heart goes out to the families and friends of the dear souls lost. It is almost 24 years since Columbine and I am very thankful to finally see a press conference showing a quick and efficient response in this manner. Hopefully, with this type of training and dedication, we can start turning the tide and help make our schools safe and free from school shooters. Thank you Nashville police officers and all who served our families and children in this effort . Thank you to the teachers, maintenance workers, officers, and everyone involved who quickly came together in those few short minutes and went above and beyond working together seamlessly as a team. Thank you to the Nashville community for supporting and loving and praying for all those involved in this tragedy. The training and bravery of everyone working together to protect our children and keep us all safe is what American needs and what this country is all about. Thank you. And Officer Rex, I'm glad you "happened" to be where you needed to be that day. Thank you.
🥺 your comment got me all choked up. I still remember being glued to the TV after columbine. Nashville LEO is truly incredible. I can only hope that all police departments follow in their footsteps. 🙏❤️
Just a huge thanks and appreciation of these selfless officers. You are to be highly commended for your bravery. May God comfort and bless each of you and your families.
all of Nashville is mourning right now for the families that lost love ones that day. I've been living here in Nashville all my life. our Police department did a great job.lm proud of them now we all have to heal from this tragedy.😢🙏🏽
They heard the call, and responded with a purpose. That purpose was to save lives and it was accomplished. I myself am a Veteran of the Marine Corps, having served in a war zone back in 1990/91. The hardest thing for these men to do is run to the sound of the guns(stimulus) and do so in a cohesive manner, the expression of "training kicked in" is something I completely understand. They were chosen by God to do the job set before them, and them were flawless, stepping over victims is hard, I had to do it during my time in service. Is it hard to do? Yes it is, I had to step over many comrades to do a job. Not all cops are bad, these men the entire lot of them are all heroes, they ran towards the sounds of the guns and eliminated the threat. God bless them, there families and colleagues. God Bless those 6 innocent victims in this horrible incident. I hold those who would do something like this in the deepest contempt, and know that God Almighty will judge them accordingly.🎖🎖🎖🎖🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
You guys did a phenominal job, stopping the shooter. I hope that you can all get through the aftermath, with minimal impact to your careers, and family life. THANK YOU!
Nashville police seem to be a group of true professionals at all levels. Hopefully this can turn around some of the anti police sentiments from the last couple years and maybe attract good people to the work.
Thank you all for your service, thank you for your quick actions, your selflessness and your heart. People all across this country from different walks of life can take notes and learn something. Very proud of you, and very proud of all of our men and women LEO’s who continue to serve every day. THANK YOU
Chief John Drake's speech was moving -- incredibly kind, loving and heartfelt. Nashville is lucky to have him, as well as heroes Engelbert, Collazo and Mathes.
I'm sure this has been very traumatic for the people involved in this!!!!! Thank you to everyone involved police, first responders, teachers, firemen. I hope everyone heals from this. So sad. Praying for everyone!!!💔💔💔💔💔🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
I just want to thank all you officers for what you did that day, to save lives. I pray for your safety each day. Thank u so much and bless all of u, for all you do. Thank u so much.🙏🙏🙏🌻❤️❤️❤️❤️
Great work on behalf of every person who responded, assisted and involved. My condolences to the grieving families and all other families of officers and the school and community impacted.
Don’t hesitate to hug each other, life is short and tomorrow isn’t promised, tell people I love you and don’t hesitate to lean on others for help, so many lessons to learn from this
If I heard correctly officer Engelberts fiancé is a school teacher so I can only imagine that was going through his mind upon entering the school and I'm sure this weighs heavily on them both. I'm praying for them and all involved.
I’m sure it went through both their minds later that day that he could be responding to her school and have to deal with this tragedy. Imagine having to step over your wife to engage the shooter. I don’t think I could stop my training thought process if I saw that. These men did amazing.
I don't know... When someone's mind is processing such a stressful situation as this one was, it seems to me that various kinds of possible extreme scenarios could come to mind.
U all are hero’s even though I’m sure none of u will admit it I pray for your peace I know what I did although was the right thing and needed done could not have been easy and it’s not taken lightly. I pray u all work through your grief and trauma and continue serving as police officers and detectives this world is a safer place with u 3 and EVERY officer that ran towards the danger in it.
I’m so proud of the police officers in my home for the actions they took. They did what they vowed to do when they chose to make an oath to protect and serve. I hope that our community gives back to them in their time of need and healing as well. They are true heroes.
Thank you to every single person who has played a part in this horrible tragedy. To the teachers staff students parents of covenant school, you are in my prayers, as well as the officers and detectives who have had to handle putting a stop to this situation and go through the aftermath in the investigation. God bless you all. My prayers too are with the family and friends of the shooter who no doubt are grieving as well. I pray no one else ever has to go through something like this. God give us the wisdom to know what to do to bring an end to gun violence.
I’m so glad that they gave condolences for the 6 lives lost. I realize that there is another family of the shooter who are also mourning at the loss of their child and I can have sympathy for them but this isn’t about them. They will have to deal with that themselves. This is about the innocent families and about the brave officers that did their jobs to the finest that day.
